The tragic saga of the imprisonment of Rabbi Meir ben Baruch ("Maharam") of Rothenburg came to a close when his body was ransomed, 14 years after his death, by Alexander ben Shlomo (Susskind) Wimpen.

"Maharam" (1215?-1293) was the leading Torah authority in Germany, and authored thousands of Halachic responsa as well as the Tosaphot commentary of the Talmudic tractate Yoma. In 1283 he was imprisoned in the Ensisheim fortress and held for a huge ransom, but he forbade the Jewish community to pay it (based on the Talmudic ruling that exorbitant sums should not be paid to free captives, as this would encourage the taking of hostages for ransom). For many years Maharam's disciple, R. Shimon ben Tzadok, was allowed to visit him in his cell and recorded his teachings in a work called Tashbetz.

Even after the Maharam's passing in 1293, his body was not released for burial until it was ransomed by R. Alexander, who was subsequently laid to rest at his side.

Adar 4 is the yahrtzeit (anniversary of the passing) of Rabbi Leib Sarah's (1730-1791), a disciple of Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov. One of the "hidden tzaddikim,"
Rabbi Leib spent his life wandering from place to place to raise money
for the ransoming of imprisoned Jews and the support of other hidden tzaddikim.

In 1555, Pope Paul IV segregated the Jews of Rome in a walled quarter surrounded by gates that were locked at night. The ghettoed Jews were then subjected to various forms of degradation as well as restrictions on their personal freedoms.

During the French Revolution, Italy was conquered by Napoleon Bonaparte. On the 4th of Adar (Tuesday, February 20, 1798) the Ghetto was legally abolished. It was reinstated, however, as soon as the Papacy regained control.

When a child learns that G‑d struck the Egyptians with a mighty hand, no matter what his teacher may attempt to explain, he imagines a mighty hand reaching out of the sky. Because that is the world of the child.

When a child learns that Abraham argued with G‑d, no matter what his teacher may explain, he imagines Abraham speaking with G‑d like a man speaking with his friend. Because that is the world of the child.

When the child grows older, he will understand that G‑d does not have a body in the way that any creature has a body.

Growing yet older, he will understand that G‑d does not have an existence in the way that any other entity exists. He will learn that G‑d is infinite and unbounded.

And yet, when he was a child, he learned the truth. Only truth.

Because in the world of a small child, a mighty hand stretched out from heaven is the power of the Infinite.

Indeed, in the simplicity of the child’s imagination is a truth the adult can only envy.